Darkness on the Edge of Town
by TheGoofyCat
Summary: CHAPTER 8 UP'Now I should have known Teddy Duchamp was bad for me the moment he handed me a knife and told me to break into Milo Pressman's junk-yard and slash the four tyres of his pick up truck,' Two outlaws trying to make a quick buck, Castle Rock's very own version of Bonnie and Clyde. 'you grab that knife and you make a living out of it.' Warning: Language/Violence. TeddyxOC.
1. Un

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any character, that featured in Stand By Me, I only own the ones never heard of, so don't sue me! Getting inspiration from The Gambler by Kenny Rogers, story title from Bruce Springsteen album titled the same, I like my song titles lol.

**Author's Note****: **What's this? A story by TheGoofyCat that isn't a Cobra fic? What the hell is going on!Dun dun duh! I've had this plot idea in my head for two years now, was out having a smoke (I know, bad! Don't smoke kids) and the first chapter hit me like a ton of bricks, so thought I'd write it down.

This whole story is in the lead oc's p.o.v and she's talking to you as if you are right in front of her.

Love it? Hate it? Review it! It would mean a lot to me to get some feedback (constructive criticism is good but no flames)

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_**Darkness on The Edge of Town  
TheGoofyCat**_

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**August 6th, 1977. 16:02 - Scotty's Love Shack - Sunny Hills, California**

My granddaddy always used to tell me, that if you didn't have anything nice to say, don't say a word. Well if that's the case, I shouldn't be telling you anything at all. I guess I could lie and tell you I've had the most privileged life a girl could have, hell would you even believe me? Thought so! There comes a time in your life when you sit back and wonder how it all came to this, how did you sink this low? How did you find yourself in the gutter? How did you fall so fast you couldn't pull yourself back up?

Those group of guys sitting besides us, they think they're so tough, with their sideburns, collar length hair and paisley shirts. Believe me they don't know the meaning of the word _tough_ not until they found themselves staring down the barrel of a '45. I've had my fair share of fights, I grew up in the deep of RiverRock and believe me if you didn't grow up with the knowledge of knife you were nothing but a nobody.

You probably think I'm some sort of street rat who thinks she's tough but deep down she's nothing but a big fat fake. Well you're wrong! I've seen things in my thirty years of life, things that would make even the worst Al Capone wannabe shiver.

Ever heard of Castle Rock, in Oregon? Didn't think so, it's my home town, where I was born and raised, it's a pretty dull place unless you're into that sort of thing.

Gosh! I haven't thought about that place, not in a long time, it's been six years since we drove away, I can almost here the sirens.

I didn't have the best upbringing a girl could have, I was always the girl that was never wanted, the son that never was, the brother they never had. The day I came out of my momma, my daddy took one look at me and declared that my momma must've been cheating because he could only produce boys. You see they had plans with me, the final son. I was going to be the last piece to a Royal Flush and they would finally win the game, instead they were left with a 'two pair', you know? Two pair's the same and one the stray, well if you play poker you know that you never want to get handed a Two Pair.

You see my Daddy was a big poker player, he spent most of his life down at Quentin's Hall playing cards with his buddies, gambling away. His dream in life was to have a royal flush, not only in the game but in the family too, he would be the King, my momma the Queen and me and my two brothers would be the 10, Jack and Ace, but I just had to go and ruin all their fun.

Okay, I admit it I sound bitter, but when your parents call you Jacqueline just so they can call you Jack, life doesn't look so great.

And don't worry my parents didn't call my brother '10' they ain't that weird, his name was Alexsander, and how many letters are in the name Alexsander? Yep you guessed it..10! Pretty smart if you ask me, esspecially for my parents, when he was younger we used to call him 'Tenny', he was five when I was born, he was the middle child so he was pretty messed up in his own way, just like daddy he liked his drink, you got any siblings?.

And then there was golden boy Johnny who we called 'Ace' he was the eldest out of us three, he was a good ten years older then me, we weren't anything, I can't even think of a time in my childhood where we held a conversation that didn't involve a twist in the arm or a toy getting broken, by the time I was out of diaper's he had just started junior high, what sort of conversation could we have had that didn't involve Goo goo ga ga? Johnny used to strut around thinking he was the big guy, Castle Rock's version to James Dean, oh how I was heartbroken when he died, I think I must've been around nine years old? I remember reading about it on the front of my granddaddy's newspaper.

Mind if I have a light?

Thanks.

God! A cigarette tastes great with a cup of coffee, don't you think? You really have to cherish these moments.

Now you might be wondering why I'm sat here, drinking a cup of cold coffee, giving you a narration of my life, when I haven't even introduced myself to you yet, but I'll get to that.

Now where was I? Oh yeah, Johnny's banged up in Shawshank now, something about petty theft, boy did he have that coming! Last time I saw him I wished he was dead, close enough to it, I guess. And Tenny? Well Tenny took him and his son's life a couple of months back, the son of a gun was drunk at the wheel, didn't see the edge of the cliff right in front of 'im, drove right off it, right into Hudson River, poor kid didn't stand a chance! He was two years old, isn't that messed up? Always knew one of our family would take a life, just didn't think it would be him.

What? You wanna know my last name?

The name's Jacqueline Merrill, darling! Now get yourself on the floor before I blow your fucking brains out!


	2. Deux

Now don't be scared, I'm not gonna hurt ya! Unless you give me a reason to. Now get your ass over to the cash register and give me all you got and don't be getting any ideas, what's this I'm holding? It's a Smith & Wesson Model 19, pretty handy piece of weaponry, really popular but it gets the job done. Just a statement of advise, when I point this at someone I intend to use it, so don't let me point this at you.

Thank you! We didn't make much this morning, did we? But thanks again, every little helps.

You might be wondering why I've got such good manners for a thief, well you can thank my momma for the way I was raised, though would you be thanking her? Probably not. I can see you standing there judging me, thinking I'm some sort of crazy bitch, but tell me this, as you look at the revolver in my hand are you really in a position to judge? I think not.

I'm sorry about locking the hostages away, but I don't think they'd understand, but you just might. Geez, the amount of crap people have in their wallets, amuses me to no end, I mean what are they going to do with a library card, that expired two years ago?

I see you've got the good stuff over here...Herradura! All the way from Mexico City, As Sergeant Major Theodore Duchamp used to say 'When life hands me lemons, gimmie tequila and salt.' I say limes, he says lemons! Ahh tomato tomato, let's call the whole thing off!

What you ain't got no limes? I can work with that.

Here take a shot.

Ooo that's the stuff, pretty strong if you ask me, but I've had stronger. What? You don't drink much? You'll be feeling this in half an hour!

See that guy outside standing by the water fountain, wearing the army jacket, that's my commander in chief, the big gun. Don't make me get him to come in here, now sit and put your hands behind your back! I've got a story to tell, you might be wondering why I haven't skedaddled out of here yet. I like to take things slow, I've got time, always feel like I get the job done better when I take my time. I've got about an hour till the fuzz show up, but by then we'll be ready to take them on.

Now there's a theory called the butterfly effect! That a single occurrence, no matter how big or small, can change the course of the universe forever. I'm a big believer in 'what ifs?' and all that malarkey, I mean what would have happened, if you didn't take a chance with me and hadn't given me this job? You wouldn't be sitting down here tied up to a chair now that's for sure. Sorry about that by the way, couldn't take the risk. Maybe you would have went home early and caught your partner banging the next door neighbour or maybe you would have been hit by a bus? For all you know I could be saving your life right at this very moment, maybe this whole conversation will change the course of your life, who knows? This is your destiny, right?

How fucked up is that? That maybe if I change the course of my direction that I could either save my life or cause the end of it? Mmmm this is some good pie, sorry I shouldn't be eating this, I've always had a problem with my weight, my momma told me it's something to do with the women in our families genes, something about having a slow metabolism, talk about fucked up genetics! But damn it just tastes so good, can I take this with me?

And how do you know what the right decision is to make? Should I turn right? Shall I go left? How do I know that a car isn't going to clip the curb and run me straight over? Now that's morbid. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you have one life to live and I intend to live mine. And that's what we do, me and Sarge over there, we don't think about tomorrows, we just live our life day by day. Tell me are you jealous? Wouldn't you love to be able to live a life and not have to worry about bills? Not knowing where you'll be next, if one day you'll be laying on the sunny beaches of California and the next bordered up in a wooden coffin six feet under.

Now I should have known Teddy Duchamp was bad for me the moment he handed me a knife and told me to break into Milo Pressman's junk-yard and slash the four tyres of his pick up truck, but when you live in a small town and the biggest news of the day is what Aunt Sally made for breakfast, you grab that knife and you make a living out of it.

You see Teddy Duchamp was my game-changer and to him I was his muse; the inspiration to his master plan, but if you ask me I was always the one with the brains and Teddy, well he was the one crazy enough to set them into motion.

Since we've got all the time in the world and this delicious pie, I don't mind going into detail, this is going to be a long story. _Tell me, can you handle it?_


	3. Trois

Now the year was '64, the middle of February, I remember because The Beatles had taken over and the whole nation had Beatlemania, remember that? I couldn't walk out of the front door without seeing a mop-top or a collarless jacket, personally I preferred The Beach Boys.

Anyway I found myself at the back of the school gates, think it was during a history lesson or some other boring class, having a cheeky smoke, if Miss. Thomson caught us, we were better off dead! She'd have the back of our heads bashed together in no time. I was with my gang, weren't what you would call close friends just acquaintances, spent most of the time talking about silly girl stuff, we were the ones that the other girls in school would avoid. The trouble makers, well that's what we thought we were, it was all for show, in fact looking back now we were pretty tame, we could bluff ourselves tuff, if you know what I mean.

I stood there leaning against the wall, thinking I was something. You see during the winter break I had dropped a couple of pounds and I thought I looked pretty neat. I didn't of course, nobody looks neat in cable stitched knee socks! Anyway me and the girls stood there and talked about the usual stuff, you know who was Bobby Rydell courting and what not, we all loved him after we saw Bye Bye Birdie.

We stood there thinking we were the bees knees and that nothing or nobody could take us. I wasn't the leader of the gang, if you look at in army rankings I was pretty low down, probably a Corporal. Shit! I'm really starting to sound like Teddy now.

Across from us stood a troop of teenage boys, we all whispered about them wondering if they were going to come over and say hello, of course we knew who they all were; Byron Murphy, Rick Morris, Teddy Duchamp and the Lamont twins, Cliff and Clint, we all grew up in the same town so evidentially all our paths crossed, some of them were from River Rock, the others from Castle Rock but none were from Castle View. They had the same idea as us, they had snuck out of woodshop and were now on there way out of school, probably to boost a car or something to that effect.

You see Castle Rock was the main part of, well Castle Rock, which housed the average or would you say poorer family, then you had Castle View where the very rich lived, the kids from there all went to private schools so I never really saw them and then there was good ol' River Rock, which was practically like Castle Rock, but more of a hard up bringing, kids from there grew up mean, which explains me, doesn't it?

Byron Murphy casually walked over to Bea Bracknell and told her about a social gathering that was happening at the weekend, we all knew what that meant, Byron had been after Bea for quite some time now, but she liked to think of herself as a lady and wouldn't put out until the fifth date. And once he had left on his scooter with the rest of his troops, we excitably giggled within ourselves, back in the day it wasn't a common thing, girls hanging with boys so when there was a social gathering we were all pretty stoked.

I remember looking over at Teddy and not thinking much of him, I knew who he was and I had heard about his father, I might as well tell you about his father, right? Patrice Duchamp, was a war veteran, he had stormed the beaches of Normandy back in '44, he fought his country with pride, he was French as you can probably tell by the name, a year later he migrated over here, married a young bride and another year later Teddy was born, he had his good days and his bad, but boy were his bad days bad, one day Teddy broke a plate and his father burnt his ear right off, I don't know why! Maybe the sound of the broken plate sent him into a frenzy, the sound reminding him of the hell that he had witnessed in Normandy. Maybe he thought Teddy was a Nazi, some kind of post traumatic stress disorder, either that or he was just plain crazy.

You know the meaning of the word Patrice? Well it means 'nobleman' and that's how Teddy sees him, even though his father caused him to be partially deaf, you could say no wrong, still to this day you can't mention his father without the word hero being thrown in, his dad was his idol and he was going to be just like him, he was going to join the army and make his Pa proud, unfortunately things don't always work out the way you want them to, so he's making him proud in other ways.

You know Teddy speaks fluent French, knew his father's mother tongue ever since he was a baby. Always tried to get him to teach me, but the asshole never did, said it was a special bond between him and his father, can understand that, I guess. Occasionally you'll hear him call out _Oh, la vache, _did I say that right? Who knows! Or he'd crack himself up by saying something like _S'occuper de ses oignons_ some kind of French phrase or something, never did find out what it meant.

Mr. Duchamp is institutionalized now, he resides in Togus down in Durham been there since '54. Up until six years ago, no matter sleet or snow on the second Sunday of every month Teddy would go with his mother and drive that hours journey and visit him, some days his father would see them some days he would not, but no matter which one of those days Teddy would sit in that chair for the entire hour not a minute early nor a minute late and he would wait.

One time a storm hit Togus, thunder roared threw the corridors and Patrice went nuts, chairs were thrown across the room like a tornado, he grabbed Teddy by the throat, threatened to cut out both of his eyes, it took three guards to pry him off but Teddy who was fifteen at the time never faltered.

Now isn't that the marks of a true soldier?

Teddy still has the pocket watch his mother had given to him on his fourteenth birthday, it belonged to his Pa, had been with him through out the war and beyond, it's Teddy's most prized possession, the thing that's closest to his heart, apart from me of course! And to this day it's still attached round his neck.

Jesus! The hell we went through to get that watch back, but I'll come to that.

Think it's time for a smoke, don't you think? Don't get me wrong I love cartons of cigarettes, but you can't beat hand rolled tobacco, you want one? Tell you what I'll untie you if you're on your best behaviour.

Now you might be wondering why I'm talking about Teddy Duchamp's life and not about mine, don't worry I will, I just want you to understand him, he's an unusual creature and to know him, you have to really _know_ him, sure to you he's just another man with sideburns, moustache and shag hairstyle, standing by a fountain but he isn't, you're also probably wondering if he wanted to be in the army why does he have facial hair and not a buzz cut? You see Teddy isn't one to conform or abide by rules, he's eccentric, stubborn and oh so handy with a rope and a pocket knife.

Now let's get back to the story.

Well there was Teddy across from me, goofing around with his friends, if I recall he was wearing the usual clothing that boys wore to school, sweaters and thick heavy jeans, him and his friends were the first ones in town to start wearing black socks instead of white, sounds strange right? But a couple of years down the line teenage boys wouldn't be caught dead wearing white socks. Now that had been the talk around town for quite some while, between all the teenage girls we thought they were all pretty boss.

He had his glasses on, never did have much of an eyesight, which is why I'm always the one with the gun. A big mop-top head of hair, he'll argue that he was the one that invented that hairstyle, but I like to tease him and tell him different. He reminded me of Paul McCartney but with lighter hair and glasses, so half of the girls in school paid attention to him and boy did he take advantage of that.

That day I went home and asked my momma for a new dress, you'd have thought I'd asked her to shoot herself in the foot, she dreamt her whole life having to buy toy trucks and dungarees not dolls and dresses, so she begrudgingly handed over the money for me to take to the five and dime store, I bought a simple sack dress, it's not like she could have handed down an old daddy-o shirt from one of my brothers to wear to a dance now, could she? As you know mini skirts and mini dresses hadn't been invented and it wasn't till '67 that they arrived in Castle Rock, we were a little behind the times back then, so us girls had to make do with the fashion we had, which wasn't a lot but compare it the early fifties? We were lucky.

That night I snuck into my brother Ace's old room and found a half empty bottle of peroxide that he used to bleach his hair with and I used it on mine. Jesus, you should have seen me, back then I thought I was a young Brigitte Bardot, talk about teenage dreams, eh?

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*_Oh, la vache! - Literal translation: Oh, the cow! (Meaning - Oh my God)_

_*S'occuper de ses oignons - Literal translation: to take care of one's onions (Meaning - Mind your own buisness) _


	4. Quatre

As you probably know social dances in the sixties were a pretty hangin' place for a teenage girl, you drank soda, listened to teen music that you thought was from your own personal record collection and danced with your friends, what more could you want in life? I sure didn't want anything else, not at that age.

So me, Bea, Stacey Edwin and Betty Beluche strutted in to the town hall, practically dressed the same and all with bleached blonde hair, and I've got to admit we did look pretty hip.

Now at a dance there's three groups, you'd have the squares who would stand together by the edge, you know the ones you tried to avoid 'cause they had the cooties. Then you had the teenage girls like myself, who would be in the middle of the hall dancing the latest dance craze like the mashed-potato, the frug and my personal favorite the hitch-hike, pretty easy dance once you got the hang of it. And last but not least by the punch and food stands would be the boys, they were too cool to dance and would stand and admire us girls assets from a far, with the watchful eye of Mr. Trencher the head of the science lab in school of course. Now there's a funny story about him but I'll get to that in five minutes.

Of course the boys always tried to spike the punch with hard up whiskey, but Trencher was just too good, had eyes on the back of his receding old head of hair, rumor had it he kept what he took, course we all knew what was really in that canteen he had hidden under his desk at school, we weren't born yesterday.

It didn't take long for Byron and his gang to get kicked out and the two BB's, Bea and Betty, practically begged me to ditch the dance and go down to the quarry with them, I was against it of course until Betty threatened to tell her big sister Francine, who was dating Ace at the time, about the time I snuck in to Ace's room and took three dollars out of the back pocket of his jeans, just like her sister Francine wouldn't or couldn't keep her mouth shut. And that my friend is a lesson for you, take a good look at who you can trust, 'cause you never know when something will come up and bite you on the ass!

So about the quarry, it wasn't really a quarry, us kids just called it that. It was a place where the guys hung out, there was a small river leading all the way from Castle Rock to Durham, Teddy still swears to this day that he swam the whole root of it, and the silly girl I used to be, I believed him.

So us girls sat and watched the boys as they got out a pack of cards and started to play Texas Hold-em, us girls wouldn't dare play, it wasn't lady like at all, of course with my poker upbringing I watched and studied all the boys faces. Cliff Lamont had the best hand but had the worse poker face, so of course they all folded and left him with a dime.

Now there was Teddy sitting in front of me and I could see his hand, he had a three and an eight, now that was a bad deal, but he didn't fold and he ended up winning the game just on his poker face, he cackled with laughter taking every last penny from his friends and what a laugh that was, went right through us.

He declared. "Nobody beats le Duchamp." Making sure he said it in the most annoying French accent possible, he kissed his fingers as he took all the money, cackling away to himself as his buddies glared. One rule never let Teddy Duchamp win because you will never hear the end of it.

I remember thinking someone needed to show him a lesson and if I wasn't so shy at the time, I wouldn't have hesitated to call his bluff and challenge him to a game, I knew I could beat him, I knew the score.

Nobody beats a Merrill at a game of cards. You can challenge me but let me tell you this, you won't even win a game of Snapjack!

I spent my childhood sitting on my daddy's knee watching him play poker with the big guns down in Quentin's Hall, my first memory as a kid was me sitting on his lap, Ace and Tenny by our sides watching as he played the banker and he was shuffling out the cards, explaining to Tenny the rules and regulations of the game, course Ace knew how to play already that was etched in to his brain the moment he could pick up a pack of cards, all the while a freshly lit cigar hung out of my daddy's mouth and the smoke took over the whole room and to this day if I smell cigar smoke it takes me back to being five years old, funny how you can remember things with just a smell, eh? The brain truly is a wonder.

It didn't take long for Bea to be in second base with Byron by the time the card games were over, me and Betty sat there watching in disgust, bored out of our minds as one of the twins, could never really tell which one was which, and Teddy had a fight, of course they were goofing around trying to impress us and I could see from the corner of my eye the other twin was staring at Betty with a look that would have gotten him to third base with Bea, she of course gulped and her cheeks went red and I laughed my fat ass off, she begged me to help her and get him away but it didn't take me long to kindly remind her who brought us here in the first place.

Revenge is a bitch!


	5. Cinq

Now you're probably thinking how can I be the same girl as the one I'm telling you about, that I'm completely different. But you see I was seventeen then and I hadn't fully matured at that age, It wasn't until two years later then I became the woman I am today. Jesus! You're probably thinking what a nice girl I was back then, trust me I wasn't, I might have been shy but I could defend myself like no other.

I had my fair share of fights, clawed a lot of girls faces to get where I am today and in '64 it was no different.

It was a month after the dance and me and Bea had snuck out of home economics so she could be with Byron, that girl was in love. Byron and Teddy had decided that even though they only had another three months left of school that they would drop out, couldn't take building another bird house in shop I guess.

Me and Bea found ourselves in a scrap, can't remember what set it off, could have been because I had finally had enough of being her lap dog and following her around or it could have been because Byron looked at me nicely, God knows! But at that moment in time we were at each other like a pack of wolves were when they attacked their prey.

Byron and Teddy watched us, the two of them amused at the chaos and you know what, I think they expected the five foot shy me to lose, Bea might have weighed ten pounds more then me and been about a foot taller but that didn't mean she had any chance against me, I grew up in a part of town where if you let anyone knock you down life just isn't worth living.

It's not just cards us Merrill's win at.

I learnt a good fighting trick when I was ten years old, watching my brother Tenny get into a brawl with a couple of street rats down the road, you always go for the knees.

I was on top of Bea, when Teddy pulled us apart and declared us to stop, he pulled out Mr. Trencher's canteen flask from behind his back and us two girls eyes widened in wonderment, how he managed to swipe that I'll never know.

So he put the canteen in my face and told me to drink it, being the silly girl I was and wanted to show off I took a deep swig of it, fuck knows what was in that stuff, tasted like rum mixed with whiskey, not a combination I would suggest.

I passed it to Bea and she took a drink too, we had an absolutely amazing idea to drink it all, like the stupid idiots we were. That was my first experience of true alcohol, now I used to have sips of my mommas wine at new year when I was little but not like this.

So we drank the bottle clean and then headed back to Science class, it was a lesson I had always kind of enjoyed so I didn't want to miss it, you should have seen us walking in what we thought was a straight line, we looked a mess, after I almost fell into a locker I took my seat next to my lab partner Anne Walsh and I could have sworn she smelt the stuff on me because her pretty snubbed up nose twitched in disgust.

Thankfully Trencher was late so me and Bea had time to compose ourselves, you know act sober?

Soon enough he arrived but not alone, the son of a bitch had trays of dead frogs in his hands. Jesus Christ! You wish you could have seen me and Bea's faces. Holy Mother of God! We groaned and I could hear Bea tell her lab partner Gordon Lachance that she was going to be sick.

Mr. Trencher set the frog in front of me and handed me a scalpel, which I shoved in to Anne's hands no way was I going to do the dirty work.

As Anne started to cut into the body of the frog, I turned my head I couldn't watch but I should have watched because the next thing I see is Bea turning a shade of green, she looks at me with eyes that say sorry and I shake my head at her in protest mentally telling her not to do it, of course you have no control of your body when it's about to puke it's guts up.

She starts to heave and I feel it burning up inside of me too, Hell i think I can feel it now, can you? Next thing I hear is the sound of her throat wrenching and the smell of the alcohol and her lunch splashing on to the frog. The smell hits the whole class like a freight train.

Of course when you're going to be sick and you see someone else be sick that's going to set you off too, so I do the impossible I try and make a run for it but I miss the door by a good twenty seconds and the next thing I know is that I'm vomiting right on top of Mr. Trenchers desk, ruining the class' homework.

The whole class erupts in screams and cackles of laughter, Mr. Trencher grabs me and Bea by the ears and marches us off to the school infirmary to see Ms. Jones the school nurse.

We spent the rest of our day there laying on the beds, the two of us promising the lord that we never going to drink again. Now that didn't happen did it?

When we got questioned by Jones about what happened, we didn't dare tell her the truth, we told her that we must have caught a bug that had been going around, and you know what the woman did? She gave us two days off, told us we were in quarantine and that we couldn't leave our bedrooms for the next few days.

Somehow it all seemed to be worth it, we hadn't got punished and we were rewarded with a few days off school.

When Byron and Teddy picked us up after school they laughed their asses off, news had already spread like wild fire. Teddy rolled on the floor in fits and told me it was just like a story an old friend had told him. I pushed him away and told him never to hand me alcohol again, I wasn't so shy this time around because I was angry and sick and wanted to sleep it off.

Thanks to Teddy the dreaded science lab lesson is now a legendary story in the whole of Oregon, he tells everyone or anyone that would listen about it, course he changes it all and tweaks it. Tells them he was there and that I puked all over Mr Trencher's balding head and that when the smell hit the classroom the whole class started spewing and everyone was quarantined for a week and that it took a bomb squad to come clean it up. Now that I think about it, the story does sound better like that, doesn't it?

Little did I know that those days off that were handed to us on a plate would start a whole new chapter in my life...


	6. Six

It was the next day, a Thursday in the middle of March to be precise, me and Bea were laying on the ground down in the quarry, soaking up the nice weather that had graced us that day.

Byron, Rick and Teddy were splashing around in the river and Bea was telling me all about her little hangover cure this morning that took place in the back of Rick's car with Byron, if I hadn't have brought up my breakfast already I thought I would have brought it up right then and there, Bea was a crude girl and she wasn't ashamed of it. Hell she was the only girl not afraid to swear in front of boys.

So when Byron came over and told us that the boys wanted to build a dam, she wasn't afraid to tell them what she truly thought.

"Why the fuck would we do that?" She spat at him, you see the boys didn't have any wood and they had come up with the great idea to get some, Milo Pressman a local junk man had a small yard a few miles down south where he kept beat up cars, tyres, spare parts and lots of fire wood.

The plan was simple Bea would wear her old girl scout outfit and knock on his door pretending to sell cookies and if you had seen Milo you would know he wouldn't turn down that offer, guy liked to eat.

All the while the guys would jump the fence and hawk a ton of wood to build their dam with. I scoffed to myself, who did they think they were? Small town crooks?

Well there was nothing else to do in this town, so we got in the back of Rick's black Buick, I made sure I stayed the hell out of the seat where Bea had been in the morning, the five of us and Byron's dog, I can't remember it's name so let's just call it Yappy, because it never shut up. What? It's been over twelve years, I can't remember every little detail, can I? If the boys didn't blow their cover the dog definitely would.

On the way there Teddy told us about the time he had escaped from the deathly Chopper, said he was some sort of devil dog, a hound from hell with the thirst for blood, which of course made us two girls weary of the whole thing, it wasn't until we arrived and I seen this old dog, with greying hair and a limp in it's walk, moping around the place, that I realised it wasn't just in poker that boys would bluff and exaggerate in, of course Teddy denied it and told us _'he must've got a new dog or something.' _which explained the dog tag with the name 'Chopper' engraved on it. Asshole!

Now I was supposed to stay put in the car with Yappy but Teddy had other plans, once everyone had left the car he came over to me and reached in his pocket bringing out a pocket knife, my eyes widened at the sight, wondering what he wanted me to do with that.

"While we're out there, I want you to slash all four tyres of this pricks car." He told me, placing the knife in my hands. He had a smirk on his mouth and behind his glasses his eyes gleamed.

I stuttered a reply and he just told me to do it, pointing me to the direction of a light grey pick up truck that was parked down the street and he ran off to catch up with the guys. I stared at the knife for a moment before stepping out of the car, now the smart girl that I am now would have closed that door but I left it open and I didn't see Yappy run to the direction of his owner.

Every stab of a tyre I made sure the coast was clear, a strange rush waved through my body as I tore each tire apart, it felt good, I felt alive!

Somewhere along the way Bea's cover was blown and I heard a gun shot and a terrifying scream.

You want to hear the most ear pinching scream,? Then you get your ass down to the nearest bus station and you hitch a ride down to Castle Rock, knock on Bea Bracknell's door and ask her to scream for you, she sure had a scream hidden under that nice soft voice, one that would knock you off your feet.

I shot up and turned round, I could see Teddy running as fast as he could and then he jumped the fence, I swear to you he was flying, cause it seemed like his feet never touched the ground. He didn't run to the Buick he ran straight past it flying down the street and I followed him.

I kept on running, my feet pounding on the floor, as my heart pounded in my chest, the kid was fast but I was faster, it didn't take long for me to catch up to him, as we ran down the street and found cover behind a car.

"What the hell happened?" I panted, my mind couldn't give a rats ass that I had just sworn in front of a boy.

"That dog!" He breathed, holding his sides regaining his breath, I knew Yappy had messed it all up. "Did you do it?" He asked me and I knew what he was referring to.

"Yeah, I did it." I replied, shoving the knife back in his hands, he let a laugh and I finally realised that we were alone together for the first time in our lives, I studied his face and blushed knowing he was studying mine.

"Sweet!" He laughed and he began to tell me what had happened, it was my fault of course! If I had just closed the damn car door, Yappy had run straight into the junk yard and had been barking like crazy, which of course alerted Chopper and Milo, making Milo aware that there were intruders trespassing on his land, he soon found the boys hauling wood over a fence, they dropped the wood as fast as they could and ran like the wind, Teddy told me that Milo almost had him in his clutches but he was smart and left his leg out causing a running Rick Morris to trip over it and take the fall, of course Milo stopped and grabbed Rick leaving Teddy to get out scot-free.

Here's another lesson for you, kid. Always let someone else take the fall. Now you might think Teddy was mean but at the end of the day he would have been the one caught out if it wasn't for his quick thinking. What would you have done?

I asked him what the gun shot was but he didn't know, it wasn't until we seen Bea pull up to us in Rick's car that we knew what had happened, Byron Murphy was in the back holding his dead dog, crying his heart out, the son of a bitch had shot Yappy. Me and Teddy gulped as we got in the car, Teddy got in the back to comfort his friend and I in the front.

You know that amazed me? How Teddy could one minute throw one of his friends to the dogs but in the next comfort and feel the pain of another and I could have sworn on that day that I saw a single tear escape Teddy's eye as he watched his best friend grieve for his dog.

I knew then that I needed to get to know this young man.

Toby! The dog's name was Toby.


	7. Sept

We all sat in silence as Bea drove us to the quarry, not even Bea, who was well known in this town for being little Miss Can't-keep-her-mouth-shut, spoke, not even a single peep came from her rosy lips, her eyes focused on the road ahead as she carefully drove and I can remember wondering if it was her first time driving a car, she was going that slow.

As soon as we were out of the car Teddy brought out a pack of smokes from his jean jacket and passed them round, I took one and placed it in my mouth, at that moment I needed that damn cigarette. I watched as Teddy brought a shovel out from the trunk of Rick's car, why had a shovel in there I didn't know. Damn, I still wonder about that today.

Byron was still in tears and I was surprised that Teddy hadn't called him a pussy and told him to man up yet, I mean I was thinking it and I was pretty sure Bea was too, and I knew Teddy would have no problem blurting it out but I guess there comes a time when you don't rank on a friend.

Byron was the toughest kid in town and it was pretty much a big fucking thing to see him cry his eyes out, I never felt so awkward in my life and I'm sure Teddy and Bea felt the same, it's hard to explain but it was like seeing my brother Ace cry, strange and out of place and believe me when I tell you this, the only time my brother cried was when he got hauled down to the station for getting caught holding up the local gas station and the cops arrived at our door.

Fuck, that was a day an a half! My mother in floods of tears, Tenny sitting by the front porch shuffling a pack of cards, my father marches out of the house cussing and brewing up a storm, me at eight years old sitting on the grass playing with a raggedy doll. Two coppers dragged Ace's ass out of the house and I can still see the smirk on his face, a cigarette in his mouth as he walked down the path, he stepped on my dolls head as he walked past me and in slow motion he dropped the cigarette and the hot ash flew off the end and hit me right in the left arm, I gasped in pain but nobody noticed, they brought his head down with such force that even I felt it, I heard a curse word come out of his mouth as he was shoved in the back of the car.

The door slammed shut and I think that's when it hit Ace, this wasn't a joke, he could do actual time for this and the realisation that his life was practically over sent him over the edge. I was the only one who saw the tears fall down his face, I didn't tell nobody, until just now.

Lucky for Ace, he got off lightly, a hefty fine and a warning, tell you what, momma wasn't too please having to pay up, she had worked all summer for Ace's bail money and now she had to use it for getting his bum ass out of a cell. Not like Ace gave a shit, as soon as he was out he was back to boosting cars and trashing mailboxes and I wanted to tell him so bad that I saw him piss his britches but I had more sense then that, he'd have killed me, I would be laying in that ditch right next to that dog.

Oh, yeah! Back to Yappy.

I smoked the cigarette, but something felt off, it was then that I realised they were menthol.

Who smokes menthol cigarettes that isn't a queer or a pansy? Teddy Duchamp, that's who. I could never bring my head round it, you might as well chew a pack of mints or something.

I watch as Teddy keeps digging the ground, out of breath 'cause he's too busy puffing that cigarette. He finishes and wipes the sweat off his forehead and Byron places Yappy -

Sorry. Toby.

In the ground and Teddy covers the ground up, Byron tells us he wants to say a few words about his dog and at that moment I was pretty peeved off, it was windy and I just wanted to be at home in my bed not standing around listening to Byron's bullshit.

My selfish thoughts were soon shoved aside when I hear Byron spit, "It's all your fucking fault, you little cunt." The word pierces right through me and I could see that it had went through Bea as well and that's a pretty fucking shocker.

Never did like that word myself. There's plenty of swear words around but that one is too harsh.

"Calm down, By." Teddy says trying to diffuse the situation and I don't know if I was more shocked that Teddy hadn't burst in to cackles of laughter or the fact that he had a nickname for his friend. I watched as Teddy held a strong arm on Byron's shoulder pulling him back, it was then I realised he was after me.

"Where the fuck were you? Huh?" Byron roared and he pushed Teddy away, no doubt he would win in a fight between the two. He comes charging at me. "This is your fault, It's your fault my dog is dead." He practically screamed in my face and if I had this pistol in hand back then I wouldn't have hesitated to pull the trigger.

He grabs me by the throat and Bea screams, not as shrill like the one at the junk-yard but still fucking loud.

"I-I-I," I stutter and I'm pretty sure I pissed a little, Byron was a beast and I was around half his size, I'm sure you would piss your pants too, if Byron were after you.

"Leave her alone." The words shocked me even more then the word cunt had, Byron was Teddy's best friend, why was he helping me? "It's not her fault, man." He grumbles as he grabs hold of Byron's arm again.

It was my fault, if I hadn't have left the door open for Yappy to escape we wouldn't have been in this mess and I certainly wouldn't have been pushed up against the wall with my throat in deaths grip.

"She's a Merrill, dude, you any idea what they'll do to you if they hear you touched her." Teddy tried to reason with him as I squirmed in my place, if I had ever heard complete and utter bullshit in my life that was it. Tenny would never go up against Byron and Ace? He would have laughed in my face and given Byron a pat on the back.

Byron released his grip immediately and I rubbed my throat, praying to god I wouldn't have a Byron sized hand mark tainted on my skin.

Still it felt fucking good to know the terror of my last name.

Byron looks at Bea and grabs her by the arm and pulls her away, she gives me a pitiful shrug and disappears with him, what a great friend she turned out to be.

I turned to Teddy.

"Why did you do that?"


	8. Huit

**What's this? Another chapter! Yeah, Baby! Not like many people care, hardly anyone reads this lol anyway I was going to wait to upload this but couldn't wait, I hope you like how I'm portraying Teddy, I think there's a lot more to him then just craziness so I'm focussing on that. Big thank you to JustAnotherGoofball - you rock, girl!**

**Hope you enjoy this chapter, not too sure about it.**

**I just realised before I came back I had 5 stories on here now I have 19! Holy crap.**

**Anyway if you have time check out the music video to Katy Perry's The One That Go Away, this story is kind of based on the song and the music video too, the relationship in the video is how I think of Teddy and Jacqueline's and I picture Teddy having the same kind of hairstyle and beard as the guy in the video. :)**

**Enjoy!**

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You know my Granddaddy also told me if you dreamt big all your damn dreams would come true, he never said the word damn but hell I throw that in just for kicks, he was a right old crank, spent his whole life at the Hudson River fishing for supper, never did teach me but he taught Ace and Tenny, it's a guy thing and when we went down to his little old house on the edge of town he always had presents, sometimes it would be candy and this one time he got me one of those dress up doll things, you know the ones made of paper and you bend the flaps so they'd stick on the doll, I thought it was the best damn thing anyone had ever given to me, I must've been around twelve years old, took that set with me everywhere I went but that was until Ace came in one day and ripped it up, Ace got his kicks around town by bullying any kid who got in his way and I was no exception.

I don't even know why I'm telling you all this, not like you give a hoot, but I'll tell you anyway. I guess it feels good talking about my Granddaddy, there ain't a day go by that I don't think of him and I'd give my life just to see him again just like Teddy would give his to go see his dad.

The way I'm talking you probably think he's dead but he ain't, still lives in that house and sometimes I'll find a telephone and call him just to hear his voice, I never do speak so he starts swearing and threats about telling the cops and getting them to trace the call and that's when I hang up. I'll never see him again, he's ninety-six years old, he'll be dead by the time we return, that's if we ever return, I lay awake at night thinking one day he won't answer the phone and I'll just know.

Shit! I think I'm about to cry.

"Why did you do that?" I turned to Teddy.

"I dunno," He shrugs. "Guess I don't want your brothers kicking my ass." I might not have known Teddy that well, but I knew it was a lie, sensed it as soon as the words came right out of his mouth. "Come on," He grabs my arm. "Let's go find Rick." He pushes me towards the Buick and I get in the car. He mumbles something about what Rick's mom is going to do when she sees the state of the back-seats, if only she knew what Bea and Byron had been up to she wouldn't give a damn about the blood stained tapestry blanket.

I rubbed my neck and it was sore to touch, Byron sure knew how to hold someone in a death grip, probably from all that rough housing he did with Teddy.

"You okay?" He asks and I knew it was just small talk and I wondered why he was being so damn nice to me.

I shrugged and nodded my head, I had a worse bruise from my father from the time I had broken a glass plate that had belonged to my great-grandmother, was the only thing in our house that was worth anything and I'm not just talking about sentimental value, it would have solved just about every debt my father had worked himself up in down at Quentin's Hall but hey! You can't dwell on the past.

Teddy pulled out of the Quarry and I asked him where he think Rick would be.

"Down at the station. Fatty Pressman would have dragged his fat ass down there himself," Teddy spat out and I wondered why he hated Milo Pressman so much, sure he was annoying and a right pain to anyone who wanted to buy something from the scrap, always overcharged and under-changed, had a right reputation for that.

"What you did to Rick? Well I don't think he'd wanna see you any time soon!" I comment remembering what Teddy had done to Rick just under an hour ago. "If I did that to one of my friends, they'd never want to speak to me again!"

Teddy chuckles slightly, "Well it's a good thing we ain't like that!" My eyes look to the floor and he lets out a sigh. "Rick's smart! He'd have done the same thing and I would forgive him too." I was somewhat jealous of the fact that he, Teddy Duchamp, a low-life living in the middle of Castle Rock not rich enough to be living in Castle View but not poor enough for River Rock, had friends like that.

"Some friends you got there." I commented and I can still feel the bitterness in my mouth.

"It's not friendship, it's real life." I had no idea what he had meant.

At first I thought he had meant friendship was for life but it wasn't until a couple of years ago that the words popped into my head and it dawned on me what Teddy had really meant. Teddy, Rick and the rest of the pricks he hung out with they weren't real friends they were just kids who hung out with each other and they wouldn't give a shit if one of them were to go down for life just as long as themselves were safe, keep them close enough to you so they don't rat you out but keep far away from them so when the cops come you're not brought down, they used each other and I think Teddy knew that.

But that didn't explain Byron and Teddy's relationship.

We soon pulled up to the station and the image of me sitting in my Uncle Pop's pick-up truck squished next to Tenny as we watched my mom walk down the path in tears and Ace casually walk out after her like he was just walking out of the local bar flashed through my mind.

Teddy parked and we waited to see if Rick would walk out.

"Why did you really stop Byron?" I asked and I wanted to add _And don't tell me it's 'cause of my brothers because that's a god-damn lie!_

Teddy seemed to know what I was thinking and he answers my question truthfully as he runs a hand through his hair and shrugs again. "I suppose I appreciated what you did for me, Jacqueline." It was the first time I had heard him say my name and it sent a shiver right through me.

I was about to turn round and face him I could sense a smile on his face, but I would never know if he was because Rick Morris was now walking out of the station door, Castle Rock Police Station had the loudest doors in all the county, they didn't call it the slammer for nothing you know.

Teddy was right, Rick didn't give a shit what Teddy had done, I was half expecting Rick to drag him out of the front seat and kick Teddy's face in but he didn't, he just got in the back-seat gave Teddy a pat on the back and told him to burn some rubber.

Rick had been let off just on a warning.

And I can tell you this, Castle Rock's law system was well and truly fucked up, Ace and Rick who were well known in the town for being tyrants and basically little shits got off lightly but Mr. Parkin, who had lost his job and was living on the streets, got banged up for a year or two because God forbid he had stolen a loaf of bread. It doesn't make sense does it?


End file.
